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12 Case Studies of Companies that Revised How They Compensate Employees

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S HRM has partnered with ChiefExecutive.net to bring you relevant articles on key HR topics and strategies.

Higher compensation is part of the ransom for dealing with the pandemic for most American companies and industries. So salaries, wages, benefits and perks will cost them more—perhaps a lot more—in the year ahead.

The way CEOs and CHROs can make sure the Great Raise works to their companies' advantage is to be proactive, creative and equitable about it. Yet they also must weigh strategically the demands of the moment with their long-term compensation strategy.

"This is a time for real balance when it comes to how you deal with retention and attraction," said Paul Knopp, chair and CEO of KPMG US. "We all have to make sure we meet the market when it comes to base compensation, but the market has changed in a way that you also have to look at those benefits that are most attractive to employees for their careers."

While median full-time earnings of $1,001 per week in the third quarter of 2021 were nearly 9% higher than two years earlier, according to the Labor Department, expectations for 2022 remain frothy given the tight market for talent, the free-agent ethos encouraged by remote work, the geographic reshuffling of workers and decades-high inflation. U.S. wages will increase by 3.9 percent in 2022, according to the Conference Board, the highest rate since 2008.

The compensation surge is occurring at the high end, at a low end that's getting higher and everywhere in between. Goldman Sachs, for example, is offering paid leave for pregnancy loss and expanding the amount of time employees can take for bereavement leave while also boosting its retirement-fund matching contributions for U.S. employees to 6% of total compensation, or 8% for those making $125,000 a year or less.

Meanwhile, at Tyson Foods' chicken-processing plant in New Holland, Pa., the company has started offering a three-day workweek, plus pay for a fourth day that retains employees' status as full-time workers. Just for good measure, Tyson has created a $3,000 sign-on bonus for new hires.

"We're in a bidding war for talent that will go on for a long time," said Alan Beaulieu, president of ITR Economics.

For CEOs and CHROs, several new factors demand their attention along with the overall spike in compensation. They include:

  • The end of retention. The "idea of a long-term commitment to one employer has been dead for a while, but it's really dead now," said Dave Roberson, CEO of the RoseRyan financial consulting firm. "You must have a stream of people. Assume you're going to be replacing people. So how do you keep the people you have, if you can, but also bring the next group in?"
  • High-balling. A deal to recruit someone may not really be a deal these days. "You've made an offer and you think you've got a hire, and then they're asking for $5,000 or $10,000 more," said David Lewis, CEO of OperationsInc, an HR consulting firm. "Now you have to ask yourself what makes more sense strategically: say no and hold the line and lose the candidate and restart the process, not knowing how that will work out? Blow up your compensation structure? Or as a Band-Aid, give that person a sign-on bonus in hopes that the package will get them in the door?"
  • Need for equalization. Recruiting with higher compensation also requires boosting pay and benefits for retention. "You need to be mindful of what you're paying others in the organization and understand the detrimental impact it will have when you bring someone in alongside a tenured employee," Lewis said. "Operate on the idea that everyone's salary is basically posted on the pantry door in your office."
  • A focus on mental health. The pandemic, anti-contagion measures and the takeover of remote work has left many Americans isolated, confused, lonely—or at least disjointed. And they expect their employers to help them cope and adjust.

"Mental health is a real thing, regardless of how [a previous generation of leaders] feel and what we did," said Jeffrey Immelt, former CEO of General Electric. "Particularly post-Covid, it's something worth your time to try to understand."

Many Fortune 500 companies already offered mental-health benefits, but by now "mental health is just a place setter: You've got to have it in place to be competitive in the market today, across the board," said Richard Chaifetz, founder and CEO of ComPsych, a large provider of employee-assistance programs. "Companies understand the importance of keeping their people functioning at the highest level."

Codility, for example, has begun supplying all employees with 27 days of paid time off per year plus four mental-health days, which don't have to be approved. "We're offering these days in addition to personal-time-off days to recognize and bring to light the importance of mental health," said Natalia Panowicz, CEO of the platform that evaluates the skills of software engineers, with its U.S. hub in San Francisco.

CHRO360.com asked a dozen CEOs, CHROs and other top executives about their compensation strategies and practices for 2022. Here are some of their ideas:

Let Them Name Their Salary

Chris kovalik, ceo, rushdown revolt, a video-game maker in new york city.

We started as 12 part-timers, mostly people who were giving me their moonlight hours. That's not a lot different from now, except now we have 75 people. The magic of what we do is that we don't recruit anybody. We're just a magnet. We let people come to us.

When it comes to compensation, some say they wanted to volunteer, that they weren't expecting compensation. But we never, ever allow people to volunteer their time for us. So we say our company minimum wage is $15 an hour, and if you insist, we can pay you that per hour.

But generally people come to us with an expectation of compensation because they see that we're making money. When compensation came up, we'd say, "I don't know what your skill set is. I've never hired you before. How much do you think you're worth, and how much do you need?"

If every hour we're compensating them for the amount of money they want and need, if someone is part-time and only giving me 10 hours a week, I'd argue that they're giving me their best 10 hours. Because they're getting paid what they want and doing things that they want to be attached to and be part of.

There's no pattern to the compensation requests. If their number is too low, we'll say, "Are you sure? Are you just giving me a low-ball number I'll say yes to?" If it's high, I don't talk them down, but I ask them to justify it, and if the justification isn't adequate, what I say is, "How long do you think you'll need to prove that justification? Two to three weeks? Then let's pay you two-third to three-quarters of what you asked, and if you prove it, we'll go up to whatever you said."

Tailor Package for Youth Appeal

Ronald hall jr., ceo, bridgewater interiors, an auto-seat maker in detroit.

We enjoyed very low turnover pre-Covid, but during the last two years we have had to replace probably one-third of our workforce at our largest facility, about the same number from termination as voluntary. So we've had to work harder than ever to recruit.

Our most-tenured employees, who are the most highly trained, have had to pick up the slack, working record amounts of overtime and less-predictable production schedules.

In our upcoming negotiations with the United Auto Workers, we're trying to emphasize short-term bonuses rather than wage increases that get baked into our costs. But we have continued health insurance through the pandemic as well as our tuition-reimbursement program, and many employees have thanked me for that.

What I am hearing from new employees is that they're not as interested in benefits but rather in higher cash wages. We've long touted benefits like our generous 401(k) matching and better medical coverage versus our peers, but we're finding that doesn't resonate as readily now as it did a decade ago. So I've asked my team: Should we be looking at some kind of hybrid model of offering higher wages to people who want those and move those dollars from the benefits side to the wages side?

We've also looked at providing childcare in a partnering arrangement where there could be a center developed near our facilities, and we would arrange for some sort of company subsidy or guarantee some level of attendance. The challenge with that is the auto industry runs around the clock, and you'd need a daycare provider who'd be committed to opening around the clock and provide legal, regulated, benchmark-standard levels of care to all those children in the off hours.

Equalize as You Acquire

Diane dooley, chro, world insurance, a business and personal insurer in tinton falls, n.j..

We onboarded about 800 employees in 2021 through acquisitions of small agencies and organic growth, but there had been no compensation modeling. Now we're building out our compensation philosophy with commission plans, incentives and bonuses, centralizing components and ensuring we have the right framework.

When we do an acquisition, we might retain their compensation model for a year or two years then slowly migrate, but make sure employees aren't taking a cut in pay. We are also capitalizing commissions into base compensation—identifying what commissions would have been and what they will be, and recognizing roles that are moving away from a commission base.

Some agencies we acquire are smaller and may be below-market for total compensation. Now we're addressing those concerns. They need to be more front and center. We must do everything to retain our employee population. If they're woefully underpaid, or not at market, we risk losing people, and we don't want to do that.

Educating the owners of some of the agencies [we acquire] is a piece of this. As we partner with them, we are evaluating them and asking, "Did you give people an increase this year?" We're not telling them what to do but providing guidance about what to do.

We're also modifying and increasing our benefits, such as giving employees pet insurance. And making counteroffers is a critical piece today, usually for high-end employees. They work better than they used to because not a lot of people really want to make a move in this environment.

Innovate for the New World

Jason medley, chief people officer, codility, a provider of skill-evaluation software in london.

We really have to step back and be innovative and force ourselves to change. The companies that are going to win are going to be more progressive early and not fighting what's happening.

One thing we've done is change our outdated compensation models that give higher pay to employees living in tech hubs like San Francisco and New York and lower compensation for areas inside the coasts. Now, we've created a United States-wide salary band, so no matter where you live, the compensation is based on the role, not the location. You can go live and work wherever you want to.

We decided to approach compensation through a very human lens. People have seasonality in life, and maybe they are caregivers at different moments and want to live in different places. We want to be as flexible as possible, and this country band gives us that flexibility.

We are starting to see the same thing in Europe, where we have our headquarters in London and offices in Berlin and Warsaw, and employees all over, especially in Poland. People are wanting to live in the countryside of Spain but demanding a London salary. So we are transitioning to one European Union band and saying, "Here is your rate—live where you want to."

We are also seeing that with global warming, it's harder to get work done for people on the west coast of the U.S. and in Europe, because they didn't build homes with air conditioning. If you're sitting in a house at 90 degrees with no air conditioning, there's no way your performance is the same as someone with AC. Supplementing air conditioning isn't something we thought about before, but now we're very much having to look at those things.

Stay Ahead of Expectations

Traci tapani, ceo, wyoming machine, a sheet-metal fabricator in stacy, minn..

Our wages have gone up by about 20% for the typical worker. When I found people I could hire, I knew they were being brought in at an hourly rate that was too high for what I was paying my incumbent workers.

My strategy has been to be proactive about that and not wait for [existing] employees to say something about it or give them a reason to look for another job. We're proactively making wage adjustments to make sure our incumbent workers are in line.

Employees will leave for more money, so they're very appreciative of it. But in my shop, I also know that people like working here, and I know they don't want to leave. I don't want to give them a reason. If they can get an increase in pay that's substantial, I know that I can cut them off at the pass. Retaining my workforce is my No. 1 strategy. They're already here, and I'm going to do everything I can to keep them.

For that reason, we've also been more generous as time has gone on with paid time off, offering it sooner than we once would have, especially for new workers. We recognize that it's healthy for people to be away from work and also, in the pandemic, people need to be away from work. Knowing they have some paid time off makes it easier for them.

Leverage Benefits for DE&I

Mark newman, ceo, chemours, a chemical manufacturer in wilmington, del..

In general our company hasn't seen the Great Resignation. And in fact, we continue to believe our focus on being a great place to work is serving us well, along with appropriate benchmarking on compensation issues.

Chemours  is  a great place to work. We survey our employees every year, to improve our working environment from a compensation and benefits perspective. Also, from the [diversity, equity and inclusion] perspective, we're trying to make sure we tap into the full breadth of talent in our industry.

That means, for instance, we are helping people more with college loans. We are offering same-sex [marriage] benefits. We are providing more family leave for people who have kids. There is clearly an aspect of our benefits package that is evolving to be consistent with our strategy of making Chemours a great place to work.

Overall, we view compensation as something where we want to be either in the median or upper quartile. It's something we're very focused on from both a wage as well as benefit level. From Covid, there's been no fundamental change as it relates to us wanting to be in the median to top quartile.

We've had to make some local adjustments where the labor market is more super-charged. For example, we see a lot of that in the Gulf Coast region, especially with oil prices coming back, and petrochemicals and refining. But it's very much a regional factor. So if industries are moving to a certain region, like the South, you have to make sure you stay current with local benchmarks.

Offer Skin in the Game

Cesar herrera, ceo, yuvo health, a healthcare administrator in new york city.

We're a year-old company that provides tech-enabled administrative solutions for community health centers across the U.S. that are specifically focused on providing primary-care services for low-income individuals. We have a team of about 10 people right now, and we have a number of open roles and positions where we're likely going to be tripling the size of our team in 2022.

Google can compensate well above the market rate. We don't have that since we're an early-stage organization. What we do have as levers aren't up-front financial compensation but equity, support in your role and a relatively flat organization where you can have significant autonomy.

A lot of individuals are going to be driven by the mission; that's the case with the entire founding team. We've made sacrifices to create this organization. So you can come in at a meaningful position with a lot of decision-making.

But one of the biggest carrots we can give is, if you accept the lower pay and the risk that comes with an early-stage organization, you can have meaningful equity in the company. We have an options pool which is not to exceed 10% ownership of the organization, and as we grow and scale, we increase that options pool. For senior-level leaders, we do expect to be able to distribute up to 10% of the company to them.

Pay Extra for Continuity

Corey stowell, vice president of human resources, webasto americas, a maker of automotive sunroofs in auburn hills, mich..

We had to recruit for several hundred new openings at a brand-new facility right at the beginning of the pandemic. So we instituted an attendance bonus. For those who worked all their hours in a week, we paid an additional $3 an hour. We really had to keep it short-term, so we paid it weekly. If you wanted to pay it every month, you couldn't do it, because people needed that instant gratification.

Otherwise they could get it on unemployment. With our pay rate, they could earn more to stay at home and collect unemployment, a significant amount more than they could earn than working for us. So we also had to increase our wages, and we increased them by more than 20% in some classifications [in the summer of 2020].

We've filled all of our positions, but it's still a challenging market. We've had to increase all our wages, with the lowest for a position being $17 an hour, on up to $30 an hour.

We also have offered stay bonuses of $500 a month for three consecutive months, up to $1,500. And for hourly employees we've instituted a different attendance policy, where they can earn two hours of paid personal time for so many hours that they work consecutively with no attendance issues.

The key is the schedule—we can prepare and get someone to cover. That's easier to do than just managing whoever's going to come in today. In this environment, that really has changed with our workforce, and it's tough to rely on our current workforce.

Give Them the Keys

Elliott rodgers, chief people officer, project44, a freight-tracking software provider in chicago.

We have equipped and subsidized a van that we call Romeo, which employees can use to combine work with personal uses like family road trips. We cover the cost of the rental. It's a luxury van that comes equipped with a bed, a toilet and shower, Wi-Fi, device charging and a desktop workspace. And it's pet friendly.

We started it as a pilot project and reservations were full within 10 minutes of when we posted it internally. Then we extended it into 2022. By the end of 2021, more than 20 unique team members completed or nearly completed reservations. They've ventured out to places spanning Mount Rushmore and the Badlands; Rocky Mountain National Park; Salem, Mass.; and Pennsylvania. A pretty broad number of places.

It's something we're really proud of. It allows our team members the opportunity to work in a lot of different places while still being connected to us. And they've appreciated the opportunities to stay connected, but also be connected in other ways with nature and other places in the world. They can maintain their perspective while also continuing to contribute to their role in a productive way.

When you place a team member at the center of what they'd want in an experience like that, the value of it answers itself. It creates a comfort level where it provides the necessities for you to be able to continue to work, and you can work from anywhere. It's the best of both worlds. It's one thing to find that on your own but another to have that accessible to you via work, but done in a way that caters to you.

Help Them Come, Go—and Stay

Aamir paul, country president - u.s., schneider electric, a maker of electrical distribution and control products in andover, mass..

With our knowledge workforce, it's been about intentional flexibility. So, for instance, we launched a "returnship" program for women who'd left the workforce but might want to come back even at reduced hours. That means 20, 30, up to 40 hours a week, and we're finding some incredibly talented people who haven't been in the workforce.

This program is available to men as well. If there's a field engineer who's been in the electrical industry for 35 years and he's now retiring, but he's five years from getting his medical benefits, we say: Don't retire. Go on the program. Work 20 hours a week. Work from home. We'll reduce your pay proportionally, but we will couple you with three university hires, and they will call you on Microsoft Teams and show you what's happening on the job site, and you're going to walk them through it. Work just three days a week. We'll cover your benefits.

We've also expanded the parental leave policy, which already was one of the best in the industrial sector. And we created a way for people to buy more time off without having to leave their positions. They apply for more unpaid time off and we allow them to retain their position and seniority and allow them to work through whatever life event it is.

We landed on six weeks for the maximum. In the most intense industries—such as a fighter pilot or a surgeon—they've found that six weeks of being out of the rotation allows them to re-set. So that's what we did. Before, the limit was two weeks.

Give Sway to Local Management

Tom salmon, ceo, berry global, a maker of plastic packaging in evansville, ind..

We've got to be competitive in all the geographies we serve. We have 295 sites around the world and manage our employees in those sites geographically. Every geography will be a different labor environment. There are different criteria that employees are looking for. It's not just about wages but taking everything into consideration.

We let local management handle things with their insight about wages and competition. They're hearing directly from employees about what they like and don't like, what they want more of and less of. It's a site-by-site discussion.

For example, at some sites, it may be important for employees to be able to access the internet at lunch; at other sites, they may not value that as much. Some want a more advanced locker facility, with different shower facilities. That includes the southwestern United States, where the temperatures are warmer; but in New England, some might not want that.

In any event, if you treat these things locally, you're going to be able to affect that local population and address the need of that geography. If you blanket something across our entire plant population, you may provide something that's not desired or needed.

We depend on our local management to respond to the different demands in terms of compensation and benefits at their sites. The better the front-line leadership is, and the more satisfied their team is, the higher our retention rate and productivity and safety performance. So these leaders participate in profit-sharing plans for those respective sites, because they have a great influence on the success of a given facility.

Focus Benefits on Flexibility

Paul knopp, chair and ceo, kpmg us, a financial consulting firm in new york.

We announced a new package of enhancements to our benefits and compensation, tied to mental, physical, social and financial well-being. These increases are the biggest in the history of the company. You have to make sure your base compensation meets the market, but you also must have attractive benefits.

For example, we cut healthcare premiums by 10% for 2022 with no change in benefit levels, and we introduced healthcare advocacy services. We are replacing our current 401(k) match and pension programs with a single, automatic company-funded contribution within the plan that's equal to 6% to 8% of eligible pay.

As part of this, we're focusing on the crucial element of ensuring that employees know you're watching out for them. They also are looking for flexibility—you don't want to under-index on how important that is. So we also are providing up to three weeks additional caregiver leave, separate and apart from PTO. And all parents will receive 12 weeks of paid parental leave, in addition to disability leave for employees who give birth, allowing some up to 22 weeks of paid leave. We also have expanded our holiday calendar to now include Juneteenth.

Dale Buss is a long-time contributor to Chief Executive, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal and other business publications. He lives in Michigan.

This article is adapted from www.ChiefExecutive.net with permission from Chief Executive. C 2022. All rights reserved.

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Growing a Healthy Compensation Program

MAY 14, 2018

There is a good-sized HR budget, plus the total HR and Compensation staff usually adds up to at least six practitioners who have had enough experience to know what "wellness" looks like. Case background: Healthy Gadgets is a new medical device company with fewer than 100 employees who both research and produce its products.

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21 HR Books Every HR Professional Should Read in 2024

OCTOBER 12, 2023

These are defined in five parts: recruitment, placement & talent management , training & development, compensation , and employee relations. Laszlo Bock shows you which best practices you can replicate tomorrow in your own organization in order to manage people better. This is a book that you can finish in one day.

Cafe Classic: A Look at Self-Directed, Social Network-Leveraging Performance Management

FEBRUARY 23, 2018

Editor's Note: Interest in re-imagining performance management has only increased since this Classic post was originally posted. Their success with this approach led Morning Star to create its own Self- Management Institute, which provides a lot of information and a suite of webinars on topics related to employee self- management .

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New Research on Cutting-Edge Performance Management: What Are We Learning?

JUNE 6, 2016

Editor's Note: Last summer we posted an announcement from Gerry Ledford (one of our profession's leading scholars) introducing a new academic study focused on leading edge performance management practices and an invitation for any qualified organizations to participate. Do the data indicate that the hype is warranted?

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Where Are We Headed After Covid in 2021?

MAY 27, 2021

They walk through a case study of a company deciding whether they need to change job pricing as a result of increasing remote work. One of the insights: "While the talent pool is becoming broader and more fluid, most companies still target compensation based on geographic pay zones.". She is a member of U.S. Masters Swimming.

New Guide: Choosing Employee Performance Software To Ease Common HR Pain Points

NOVEMBER 29, 2018

To get you started, we’ve compiled a comprehensive HR Buyer’s Guide to help you search for and select continuous performance management software that fits your company philosophy and specific needs. Employee Compensation and promotion. Annual performance review alternative. So let’s use it! Productivity.

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11 HR Analytics Courses Online

AUGUST 12, 2019

The Carlson School offers five courses that cover the basics of the people management process. The courses range from recruitment to hiring, onboarding, performance appraisal and compensation management . The course includes several case studies that can be uploaded for review.

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A new era for human resources: Systemic HR™ has arrived

HRExecutive

DECEMBER 5, 2023

Advertisement - HR’s role has expanded beyond basic recruiting, payroll and compensation . In the rapidly evolving business landscape, where talent is scarce, employees are empowered, and transformation is the norm, a company’s human capital has become the most crucial competitive advantage.

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What Are the Best HR Courses On Coursera?

MARCH 11, 2023

The course also provides practical tools and resources to help you create a successful talent management strategy. The course also includes case studies and real-world examples to help you understand how to apply the concepts in your own organization.

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What is employee management?

DECEMBER 22, 2022

In employee management , key performance indicators are clear, projects are implemented and carried out by the book, and compensation (in the form of bonuses and raises) and praise are assured for a job well done. The first element of employee management is in the recruitment process itself. Performance monitoring.

The Employee Development Honor Roll: Gap

NOVEMBER 2, 2016

Anchoring performance management to a philosophy that unites your employees. In fact, developing and adopting a new approach to performance management took the company two-and-a-half years. Today, Gap’s review process is called “GPS” – which stands for Grow, Perform , Success – for two main reasons.

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Trend: Candidate Feedback for Recruiter Reviews and Managing Recruiters

JANUARY 13, 2023

Using candidate feedback for recruiter reviews and managing recruiters is fast becoming standard practice these days. In fact MOST Survale clients use some form of candidate and/or hiring manager feedback in quarterly or annual recruiter reviews, incentive compensation or other systems for managing recruiters’ performance .

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Ready for Cutting Edge Communications?

JUNE 17, 2019

It got me wondering when, and from where, will the cutting edge improvements in compensation communications be coming? So are we just going to let compensation communications be left in the dust? So are we just going to let compensation communications be left in the dust? What if you could innovate without changing your budget?

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People Analytics: The Key to Understanding Talent Retention

DECEMBER 11, 2023

These functions include (among others): Recruitment and hiring Onboarding Compensation and benefits Performance management Training and development Employee relations When these functions are working together in harmony, they promote employee engagement.

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Cafe Classic: The Perks of Having a CEO Who's a Wallflower

OCTOBER 30, 2020

I compared notes on how to handle compensation communications at last week's local compensation association meeting. What type of information does your CEO find most influential -- research, case studies , competitor practices? The strategy should have all the hallmarks of a communication strategy.

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A Leading IT Company Sets Up Unbiased Variable Pay System with Empxtrack

JANUARY 23, 2019

The case study is about a leading technology company with a global hub of more than 1 million developers. The company specializes in innovation management & technical recruitment solutions and supports its worldwide clientele to fast-track their growth. It became easy to create variable pay plans and reward top performers .

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Best HR Courses in Dubai

SEPTEMBER 11, 2023

The human resource course is a structured program designed to teach theories and practices needed to excel in the field of human resources management . The course focuses on several HR functions such as hiring processes, administrative services, performance management , staff administration, and training.

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Top 100 HR and Recruitment Blogs [by Organic Traffic with Top 3 Articles Each]

APRIL 17, 2020

Performance Management . 100 Useful Performance Review Phrases. 8 Tips for Managing Your Team Effectively. Leadership and Management . Business Performance . Benefits and Compensation . HR Management . Compensation and Benefits. Interview Questions to Hire the Best Program Managers .

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Don't Look Now, Our Job Descriptions Have Changed!

APRIL 26, 2018

I think this is exciting stuff, so I thought I'd highlight three of the case studies from the HBR article to illustrate how HR mindsets are beginning to align with the Agile model -- and HR influence has flourished as a result. Salary adjustments occur twice a year, if needed, to align with the market and recognize performance .

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The Dynamic Organization: 6 keys for success in the post-industrial economy

SEPTEMBER 12, 2023

SAP set out on a journey to be the model for fair pay for its 105,000 employees around the world, relentlessly mitigating biases in all talent processes, considering pay equity first when allocating compensation budgets and fostering teamwork across siloes for more innovation and inclusion.

Can You Believe What the CEO Pay Ratio Is Teaching Us?

MARCH 14, 2019

Well, the Compensation Cafe's predictions have come true. Bloomberg does a great job with a case study about Coke. Margaret O'Hanlon, CCP brings deep expertise to discussions on employee pay, performance management , career development and communications at the Café. Not to worry, though.

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compensation and benefits case study with solution

Chapter 6 Compensation and Benefits

Matching compensation with core values.

As you sit down to review the compensation package your company offers, one thing that stands out is that your compensation package no longer matches the core values of your organization. When your organization merged five years ago with a similar firm that specializes in online shoe retailing, your company had to hire hundreds of people to keep up with growth. As a result—and what happens with many companies—the compensation plans are not revised and revisited as they should be. The core values your company adopted from the merging company focused on customer service, freedom to work where employees felt they could be most productive, and continuing education of employees, whether or not the education was related to the organization. The compensation package, providing the basic salary, health benefits, and 401(k) plans, seems a bit old-fashioned for the type of company yours has become.

After reviewing your company’s strategic plan and your human resource management (HRM) strategic plan, you begin to develop a compensation plan that includes salary, health benefits, and 401(k) plans, but you feel it might be smart to better meet the needs of your employees by making some changes to these existing plans. For example, you are considering implementing a team bonus program for high customer service ratings and coverage for alternative forms of medicine, such as acupuncture and massage. Instead of guessing what employees would like to see in their compensation packages, you decide to develop a compensation survey to assess what benefits are most important to your employees. As you begin this task, you know it will be a lot of work, but it’s important to the continued recruitment, retention, and motivation of your current employees.

Compensation and Benefits Introduction

The author introduces the chapter on compensation and benefits.

6.1 Goals of a Compensation Plan

Learning objective.

  • Be able to explain the goals of a compensation plan.

So far, we have discussed the process for strategic plan development and the recruitment and selection process. The next aspect of HRM is to develop compensation plans that will help in the recruitment and retention of employees. This is the topic of this chapter.

Most of us, no matter how much we like our jobs, would not do them without a compensation package. When we think of compensation, often we think of only our paycheck, but compensation in terms of HRM is much broader. A compensation package Includes all aspects of how employees are rewarded for their work, such as pay, benefits, bonuses, and 401(k) plans. can include pay, health-care benefits, and other benefits such as 401(k) plans, which will all be discussed in this chapter. Before we discuss specifics, you should be aware of courses and certifications that can be earned through the WorldatWork Society of Certified Professionals, specifically related to compensation (other certifications will be discussed in their respective chapters).

WorldatWork offers several certifications in the area of compensation:

  • Certified Compensation Professional (CCP)
  • Certified Benefits Professional (CBP)
  • Certified Sales Compensation Professional (CSCP)
  • Certified Executive Compensation Professional (CECP)

These certifications involve taking a multiple-choice exam online or at one of the WorldatWork testing locations. The exams test for knowledge, experience, and skills in each of the compensation certification areas and can be a valuable asset to you when applying for HR positions.

The certifications are based on many of the aspects of this chapter, including understanding the goals of compensation packages for employees, which is our focus for this section.

First, the compensation package should be positive enough to attract the best people for the job. An organization that does not pay as well as others within the same industry will likely not be able to attract the best candidates, resulting in a poorer overall company performance.

Once the best employees and talent come to work for your organization, you want the compensation to be competitive enough to motivate people to stay with your organization. Although we know that compensation packages are not the only thing that motivates people, compensation is a key component. We discuss other motivations in Chapter 10 "Managing Employee Performance" .

Third, compensation can be used to improve morale, motivation, and satisfaction among employees. If employees are not satisfied, this can result not only in higher turnover but also in poor quality of work for those employees who do stay. A proper compensation plan can also increase loyalty in the organization.

Pay systems can also be used to reward individual or team performance and encourage employees to work at their own peak performance. In fact, in the 2011 list of the Best Companies to Work For by Fortune magazine, all the companies who topped the list (SAS and Boston Consulting Group, for example) had satisfied employees—not only with their pay, but their entire benefits package. “100 Best Companies to Work For,” CNN Money , accessed February 11, 2011, http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/bestcompanies/2011/snapshots/1.html?iid=EL .

With an appropriate pay system, companies find that customer service is better because employees are happier. In addition, having fairly compensated, motivated employees not only adds to the bottom line of the organization but also facilitates organizational growth and expansion. Motivated employees can also save the company money indirectly, by not taking sick days when the employee isn’t really sick, and companies with good pay packages find fewer disability claims as well.

So far, our focus on HRM has been a strategic focus, and the same should be true for development of compensation packages. Before the package is developed for employees, it’s key to understand the role compensation plays in the bottom line of the organization. For example, in 2010, the US military spent 22 percent of its budget on personnel salaries. US Department of Defense, Financial Summary Tables , May 2009, accessed February 11, 2011, http://comptroller.defense.gov/defbudget/fy2010/fy2010_summary_tables_whole.pdf . One-fifth of the total budget—or more—is not uncommon for most US organizations, depending on the industry. As a result, it is easy to see why the compensation plan should be an important aspect of the overall HRM strategic plan. The next few sections will detail the aspects of creating the right compensation packages: for your organization, including legal considerations.

Human Resource Recall

If you have had or currently have a job, do you feel the compensation plan motivated you? Why or why not?

Key Takeaways

  • A compensation package is an important part of the overall strategic HRM plan, since much of the company budget is for employee compensation.
  • A compensation package can include salary, bonuses, health-care plans, and a variety of other types of compensation.
  • The goals of compensation are to attract people to work for your organization and to retain people who are already working in the organization.
  • Compensation is also used to motivate employees to work at their peak performance and improve morale.
  • Employees who are fairly compensated tend to provide better customer service, which can result in organizational growth and development.
  • Visit a website that gives salary information for a variety of jobs, such as http://www.salary.com . Using the search box, type in your ideal job and research salary information. What is the median salary for the job you searched? What is the lowest salary you would be willing to accept for this job? At which point would you be completely satisfied with the pay for this job?

6.2 Developing a Compensation Package

Learning objectives.

  • Be able to explain the internal and external considerations of compensation package development.
  • Know how to develop a compensation philosophy.

There are a few basic aspects of compensation packages we should discuss before moving into the specific aspects of compensation. These foundations can assist in the development of a compensation strategy that meets the goals of your organization and is in line with your strategic plan.

Before beginning work on your compensation packages, some analysis should be done to determine your organization’s philosophy in regard to compensation. Before development of your compensation philosophies, there are some basic questions to address on your current compensation packages.

  • From the employee’s perspective, what is a fair wage?
  • Are wages too high to achieve financial health in your organization?
  • Do managers and employees know and buy-into your compensation philosophy?
  • Does the pay scale reflect the importance of various job titles within the organization?
  • Is your compensation good enough to retain employees?
  • Are state and federal laws being met with your compensation package?
  • Is your compensation philosophy keeping in line with labor market changes, industry changes, and organizational changes?

Once these basic questions are addressed, we can see where we might have “holes” in our compensation package and begin to develop new philosophies in line with our strategic plan, which benefits the organization. Some possible compensation policies might include the following:

  • Are salaries higher or lower depending on the location of the business? For example, orthopedic surgeons are paid higher in the North Central states ($537,000) than in Hawaii ($250,000), according to the Medscape Physical report of 2011. Laura Miller, “9 Statistics on Orthopedic Surgeon Compensation by Location,” OS Review , May 25, 2011, accessed August 3, 2011, http://www.beckersorthopedicandspine.com/orthopedic-spine-practices-improving-profits/item/4061-9-statistics-on-2010-orthopedic-surgeon-compensation-by-location . Reasons could include cost of living in the area and fewer qualified people in a given area, giving them leverage to ask for a higher salary.
  • Are salaries lower or higher than the average in your region or area? If the salary is lower, what other benefits will the employee receive to make up for this difference? For example, wages might not be as high, but offering flextime or free day care might offset the lower salary.
  • Should there be a specific pay scale for each position in the organization, or should salaries be negotiated on an individual basis? If there is no set pay scale, how can you ensure individual salary offers are fair and nondiscriminatory?
  • What balance of salary and other rewards, such as bonuses, should be part of your compensation package? For example, some organizations prefer to offer a lower salary, but through bonuses and profit sharing, the employee has the potential to earn more.
  • When giving raises, will the employee’s tenure be a factor, or will pay increases be merit based only, or a combination of both?

Let’s discuss some internal and external factors in determining compensation in more detail.

Internal and External Pay Factors

One major internal factor is the compensation strategy the company has decided to use. Sixty-two percent of organizations have a written, documented compensation policy. Dow Scott, “Survey of Compensation Policies and Practices,” WorldatWork, accessed July 23, 2011, http://www.worldatwork.org/waw/research/html/comppol03.html .

Some organizations choose a market compensation policy, market plus, or market minus philosophy. A market compensation policy A compensation policy that pays similar to what the market offers. is to pay the going rate for a particular job, within a particular market based on research and salary studies. The organization that uses a market plus philosophy will determine the going rate and add a percentage to that rate, such as 5 percent. So if a particular job category median pays $57,000, the organization with a market plus of 5 percent philosophy will pay $59,850. A market minus philosophy pays a particular percentage less than the market; so in our example, if a company pays 5 percent less, the same job would pay $54,150. The University of Arizona, for example, posts its compensation philosophy on its website: University of Arizona, “Compensation Philosophy,” accessed July 23, 2011, http://www.hr.arizona.edu/compensation_philosophy .

In order to fulfill its mission, the University of Arizona shall maintain a compensation program directed toward attracting, retaining, and rewarding a qualified and diverse workforce. Within the boundaries of financial feasibility, employee compensation shall be externally competitive and internally equitable, and shall be based upon performance as recognized within the work unit.

In addition to their compensation philosophy, the university lists compensation objectives, such as “average salaries will be targeted at the average salary levels of employees in comparable positions in our various labor markets.” This is an example of a market compensation policy.

An example of an organization with a market plus philosophy A compensation policy that determines the going rate and adds a percentage to the market rate, so pay is higher than the market. is Cisco Systems, listed as one of the top-paying companies on Fortune ’s annual list. “Top 25 Paying Companies,” Fortune , accessed July 23, 2011, http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2011/pf/jobs/1101/gallery.best_companies_top_paying.fortune/14.html . For example, they pay $131,716 for software engineers, while at Yahoo! software engineers are paid an average of $101,669, using a market philosophy. The pay at Cisco reflects its compensation philosophy and objectives:

Cisco operates in the extremely competitive and rapidly changing high-technology industry. The Board's Compensation Committee believes that the compensation programs for the executive officers should be designed to attract, motivate, and retain talented executives responsible for the success of Cisco and should be determined within a framework based on the achievement of designated financial targets, individual contribution, customer satisfaction, and financial performance relative to that of Cisco's competitors. Within this overall philosophy, the Compensation Committee's objectives are to do the following:

  • Offer a total compensation program that is flexible and takes into consideration the compensation practices of a group of specifically identified peer companies and other selected companies with which Cisco competes for executive talent
  • Provide annual variable cash incentive awards that take into account Cisco's overall financial performance in terms of designated corporate objectives, as well as individual contributions and a measure of customer satisfaction
  • Align the financial interests of executive officers with those of shareholders by providing appropriate long-term, equity-based incentives

An example of an organization with a market minus philosophy A compensation policy that determines the going rate and subtracts a particular percentage, so pay is less than the market. is Whole Foods. The executive compensation for Whole Foods is a maximum of nineteen times the average store worker (or $608,000), very low by Fortune 500 executive pay standards, which average 343 times. Ted Allen, “AFL-CIO Defends Pay Equality Disclosure Mandate,” ISS (blog), July 19, 2011, accessed July 23, 2011, http://blog.riskmetrics.com/gov/2011/07/afl-cio-defends-pay-equity-disclosure-mandate-1.html . According to John Mackey, Whole Foods CEO, paying on a market minus philosophy makes good business sense: “Fewer things harm an organization’s morale more than great disparities in compensation. When a workplace is perceived as unfair and greedy, it begins to destroy the social fabric of the organization.” Susanna Hamner and Tom McNichol, “Ripping Up the Rules of Management,” CNN Money , n.d., accessed July 23, 2011, http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/biz2/0705/gallery.contrarians.biz2/3.html . Another example of an organization with a market minus philosophy is Southwest Airlines. Despite the lower pay (and more hours), the organization boasts just a 1.4 percent turnover rate, which can be attributed not to pay but to the workplace culture and, as a result, loyalty to the company. Kelly Eggers, “Why It’s OK to Be Paid Less,” Fins Technology, n.d., accessed July 23, 2011, http://it-jobs.fins.com/Articles/SB130816636352923783/Why-It-s-Okay -to-Get-Paid-Less .

There are many reasons why an organization would choose one philosophy over another. A market minus philosophy may tie into the company’s core values, as in Whole Foods, or it may be because the types of jobs require an unskilled workforce that may be easier and less expensive to replace. A company may use a market plus philosophy because the industry’s cutting-edge nature requires the best and the brightest.

Other internal pay factors might include the employer’s ability to pay, the type of industry, and the value of the employee and the particular job to the organization. In addition, the presence of a union can lead to mandated pay scales. Unions are discussed in Chapter 12 "Working with Labor Unions" .

External pay factors can include the current economic state. For example, in June 2011, the US unemployment rate was 9.2 percent, which is quite high for the country. As a result of surplus workers, compensation may be reduced within organizations because of oversupply of workers. Inflation and cost of living in a given area can also determine compensation in a given market.

Once an organization has looked at the internal and external forces affecting pay, it can begin to develop a pay system within the organization. We discuss how to develop a pay system in Section 6.3 "Types of Pay Systems" .

  • Before beginning work on a pay system, some general questions need to be answered. Important starting points include questions ranging from what is a fair wage from the employees’ perspectives to how much can be paid but still retain financial health.
  • After some pay questions are answered, a pay philosophy must be developed, based on internal and external factors. Some companies implement a market compensation philosophy, which pays the going market rate for a job. Other companies may decide to utilize a market plus philosophy, which pays higher than the average. A company could decide its pay philosophy is a market minus philosophy, which pays less than the market rate. For example, an organization may decide to pay lower salaries but offer more benefits.
  • Once these tasks are done, the HR manager can then build a pay system that works for the size and industry of the organization.
  • Think of your current organization or a past organization. What do you think their pay policy is/was? Describe and analyze whether you think it was or is effective. If you haven’t worked before, perform an Internet search on pay policies and describe/analyze the pay policy of an organization.

6.3 Types of Pay Systems

  • Explain types of job evaluation systems and their uses.
  • Be able to define and discuss the types of pay systems and factors determining the type of pay system used.
  • Know the laws relating to compensation.

Once you have determined your compensation strategy based on internal and external factors, you will need to evaluate jobs, develop a pay system, and consider pay theories when making decisions. Next, you will determine the mix of pay you will use, taking into consideration legal implications.

Figure 6.2 The Process for Implementing Compensation Strategy

compensation and benefits case study with solution

Job Evaluation Systems

As mentioned when we discussed internal and external factors, the value of the job is a major factor when determining pay. There are several ways to determine the value of a job through job evaluation. Job evaluation The process of determining the relative worth of jobs to determine pay structure. is defined as the process of determining the relative worth of jobs to determine pay structure. Job evaluation can help us determine if pay is equitable and fair among our employees. There are several ways to perform a job evaluation. One of the simplest methods, used by smaller companies or within individual departments, is a job ranking system. In this type of evaluation, job titles are listed and ranked in order of importance to the organization. A paired comparison Individual jobs are compared with every other job, based on a ranking system, and an overall score is given for each job, determining the highest valued job for pay decisions. can also occur, in which individual jobs are compared with every other job, based on a ranking system, and an overall score is given for each job, determining the highest-valued job to the lowest-valued job. For example, in Table 6.1 "Example of a Paired Comparison for a Job Evaluation" , four jobs are compared based on a ranking of 0, 1, or 2. Zero indicates the job is less important than the one being compared, 1 means the job is about the same, and 2 means the job is more important. When the scores are added up, it is a quick way to see which jobs are of more importance to the organization. Of course, any person creating these rankings should be familiar with the duties of all the jobs. While this method may provide reasonably good results because of its simplicity, it doesn’t compare differences between jobs, which may have received the same rank of importance.

Table 6.1 Example of a Paired Comparison for a Job Evaluation

In a job classification system A job evaluation system in which every job is classified and grouped based on the knowledge and skills required for the job, years of experience, and amount of authority for a particular job. , every job is classified and grouped based on the knowledge and skills required for the job, years of experience, and amount of authority for that job. The US military is perhaps the best known for this type of classification system. The navy, for example, has job classification codes, such as HM (hospitalman). Then the jobs are divided into specialties, such as HM-8483, the classification for surgical technologist, and HM-8451 for a hospitalman-X-ray technician. The federal government and most state governments use this type of system. Tied to each job are the basic function, characteristics, and typical work of that job classification, along with pay range data. A sample of a job classification system is shown in Table 6.2 "Example of a Job Classification System at the University of Washington" .

Table 6.2 Example of a Job Classification System at the University of Washington

Another type of job evaluation system is the point-factor system A job evaluation system that determines the value of a job by calculating the total points assigned to compensable factors. , which determines the value of a job by calculating the total points assigned to it. The points given to a specific job are called compensable factors The aspects of a job that are assigned points in a point-factor system. . These can range from leadership ability to specific responsibilities and skills required for the job. Once the compensable factors are determined, each is given a weight compared to the importance of this skill or ability to the organization. When this system is applied to every job in the organization, expected compensable factors for each job are listed, along with corresponding points to determine which jobs have the most relative importance within the organization. Tompkins County in New York uses a point-factor system. Some of their compensable factors include the following:

  • Supervision
  • Psychological demands
  • Interpersonal skills
  • Internal and external contacts

In this point-factor system, autonomy ranks the highest and is given a weight of twenty-nine, while knowledge is given a rate of twenty, for example. Each of the compensable factors has a narrative that explains how points should be distributed for each factor. In this system, one hundred points are given for knowledge for a bachelor’s degree and two to three years of experience, and eighty points are given if an employee has an associate’s degree or high school diploma and two to three years of experience. The points are then multiplied by the weight (for knowledge, the weight is twenty) to give a final score on that compensable factor. After a score is developed for each, the employee is placed on the appropriate pay level for his or her score, as illustrated in Figure 6.3 "Example of a Point-Factor System" .

Figure 6.3 Example of a Point-Factor System

compensation and benefits case study with solution

Another option for job evaluation is called the Hay profile method A proprietary job evaluation method that focuses on three factors called know-how, problem solving, and accountability; this method is most applicable to management positions. . This proprietary job evaluation method focuses on three factors called know-how, problem solving, and accountability. Within these factors are specific statements such as “procedural proficiency.” Each of these statements is given a point value in each category of know-how, problem solving, and accountability. Then job descriptions are reviewed and assigned a set of statements that most accurately reflect the job. The point values for each of the statements are added for each job description, providing a quantitative basis for job evaluation and eventually, compensation. An advantage of this method is its quantitative nature, but a disadvantage is the expense of performing an elaborate job evaluation.

Pay Systems

Once you have performed a job evaluation, you can move to the third step, which we call pay grading The process of setting the pay scale for specific jobs. . This is the process of setting the pay scale for specific jobs or types of jobs.

The first method to pay grade is to develop a variety of pay grade levels A compensation model that looks at all jobs within the organization and assigns each job a pay level or pay grade. . Figure 6.4 "Sample Pay Scale for General Federal Jobs" shows an example. Then once the levels are developed, each job is assigned a pay grade. When employees receive raises, their raises stay within the range of their individual pay grade, until they receive a promotion that may result in a higher pay grade. The advantage of this type of system is fairness. Everyone performing the same job is within a given range and there is little room for pay discrimination to occur. However, since the system is rigid, it may not be appropriate for some organizations in hiring the best people. Organizations that operate in several cities might use a pay grade scale, but they may add percentages based on where someone lives. For example, the cost of living in Spokane, Washington, is much lower than in New York City. If an organization has offices in both places, it may choose to add a percentage pay adjustment for people living within a geographic area—for example, 10 percent higher in New York.

One of the downsides to pay grading is the possible lack of motivation for employees to work harder. They know even if they perform tasks outside their job description, their pay level or pay grade will be the same. This can incubate a stagnant environment. Sometimes this system can also create too many levels of hierarchy. For large companies, this may work fine, but smaller, more agile organizations may use other methods to determine pay structure. For example, some organizations have moved to a delayering and banding Similar to pay grade levels, but this structure offers more flexibility in that there are fewer pay grades, called bands, which allows for greater flexibility. process, which cuts down the number of pay levels within the organization. General Electric delayered pay grades in the mid-1990s because it found that employees were less likely to take a reassignment that was at a lower pay grade, even though the assignment might have been a good development opportunity. Gerald Ferris, Handbook of Human Resource Management (Cambridge, MA: Blackwell, 1995). So, delayering enables a broader range of pay and more flexibility within each level. Sometimes this type of process also occurs when a company downsizes. Let’s assume a company with five hundred employees has traditionally used a pay grade model but decided to move to a more flexible model. Rather than have, say, thirty pay levels, it may reduce this to five or six levels, with greater salary differentials within the grades themselves. This allows organizations to better reward performance, while still having a basic model for hiring managers to follow.

Figure 6.4 Sample Pay Scale for General Federal Jobs

compensation and benefits case study with solution

Rather than use a pay grade scale, some organizations use a going rate model In this pay model, analysis of the going rate for a particular job is the basis for determining what people within the organization should be paid. . In this model, analysis of the going rate for a particular job at a particular time is considered when creating the compensation package. This model can work well if market pressures or labor supply-and-demand pressures greatly impact your particular business. For example, if you need to attract the best project managers, but more are already employed (lack of supply)—and most companies are paying $75,000 for this position—you will likely need to pay the same or more, because of labor supply and demand. Many tools are available, such as salarywizard.com, to provide going rate information on particular jobs in every region of the United States.

Compensation Strategies

The president of HR That Works provides some tips on determining compensation.

Another pay model is the management fit model In this model, each manager makes a decision about who much a new hire should be paid. . In this model, each manager makes a decision about who should be paid what when that person is hired. The downside to this model may be potential discrimination, halo effects, and resentment within the organization. Of course, these factors can create morale issues, the exact thing we want to avoid when compensating employees.

In addition to the pay level models we just looked at, other considerations might include the following:

  • Skill-based pay. With a skill-based pay system, salary levels are based on an employee’s skills, as opposed to job title. This method is implemented similarly to the pay grade model, but rather than job title, a set of skills is assigned a particular pay grade.
  • Competency-based pay. Rather than looking at specific skills, the competency-based approach looks at the employee’s traits or characteristics as opposed to a specific skills set. This model focuses more on what the employee can become as opposed to the skills he or she already has.
  • Broadbanding. Broadbanding is similar to a pay grade system, except all jobs in a particular category are assigned a specific pay category. For example, everyone working in customer service, or all administrative assistants (regardless of department), are paid within the same general band. McDonald’s uses this compensation philosophy in their corporate offices, stating that it allows for flexibility in terms of pay, movement, and growth of employees. McDonald’s Corporation, “Your Pay and Rewards,” accessed July 23, 2011, http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/corporate_careers/benefits/highlights_of_what_we_offer/pay_and_rewards.html .
  • Variable pay system. This type of system provides employees with a pay basis but then links the attainment of certain goals or achievements directly to their pay. For example, a salesperson may receive a certain base pay but earn more if he or she meets the sales quota.

How Would You Handle This?

You have been working for your organization for five years. After lots of hard work, you are promoted to sales manager. One of your first tasks is to develop goals for your sales team, then create a budget based on these goals. First, you look at the salaries of all the sales staff to find major pay discrepancies. Some salespeople, who perform equally well, are paid much lower than some sales staff whom you consider to be nonperformers. As you dig deeper, you see this is a problem throughout the sales team. You are worried this might affect motivation for your team if they find out what others are making. How would you handle this?

The author discusses the How Would You Handle This situation in this chapter at: https://api.wistia.com/v1/medias/1360653/embed .

Pay Theories

Now that we have discussed pay systems, it is important to look at some theories on pay that can be helpful to know when choosing the type of pay system your organization will use.

The equity theory A theory that says people will evaluate their own compensation by comparing their compensation to others’ compensation. is concerned with the relational satisfaction employees get from pay and inputs they provide to the organization. It says that people will evaluate their own compensation by comparing their compensation to others’ compensation and their inputs to others’ inputs. In other words, people will look at their own compensation packages and at their own inputs (the work performed) and compare that with others. If they perceive this to be unfair, in that another person is paid more but they believe that person is doing less work, motivational issues can occur. For example, people may reduce their own inputs and not work as hard. Employees may also decide to leave the organization as a result of the perceived inequity. In HR, this is an important theory to understand, because even if someone is being paid fairly, they will always compare their own pay to that of others in the organization. The key here is perception, in that the fairness is based entirely on what the employee sees, not what may be the actual reality. Even though HR or management may feel employees are being paid fairly, this may not be the employee’s belief. In HR, we need to look at two factors related to pay equity: external pay equity and internal pay equity. External pay equity refers to what other people in similar organizations are being paid for a similar job. Internal pay equity focuses on employees within the same organization. Within the same organization, employees may look at higher level jobs, lower level jobs, and years with the organization to make their decision on pay equity. Consider Walmart, for example. In 2010, Michael Duke, CEO of Walmart, earned roughly $35 million in salary and other compensation, Alice Gomstyn, “Walmart CEO Pay,” ABC News Money , July 2, 1010, accessed July 23, 2011, http://abcnews.go.com/Business/walmart-ceo-pay-hour-workers-year/story?id=11067470. while employees earned minimum wage or slightly higher in their respective states. While Walmart contends that its wages are competitive in local markets, the retail giant makes no apologies for the pay difference, citing the need for a specialized skill set to be able to be the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. There are hundreds of articles addressing the issue of pay equity between upper level managers and employees of an organization. To make a compensation strategy work, the perceived inputs (the work) and outputs (the pay) need to match fairly.

The expectancy theory The expectancy theory says that employees will put in as much work as they expect to receive reward for. is another key theory in relation to pay. The expectancy theory says that employees will put in as much work as they expect to receive. In other words, if the employee perceives they are going to be paid favorably, they will work to achieve the outcomes. If they believe the rewards do not equal the amount of effort, they may not work as hard.

The reinforcement theory A theory that says that if high performance is followed by some reward, then it is more likely that the desired behavior will occur in the future. , developed by Edward L. Thorndike, Indiana University, “Edward L. Thorndike,” accessed February 14, 2011, http://www.indiana.edu/~intell/ethorndike.shtml . says that if high performance is followed by some reward, that desired behavior will likely occur in the future. Likewise, if high performance isn’t followed by a reward, it is less likely the high performance will occur in the future. Consider an extreme example of the reinforcement theory in the world of finance. On Wall Street, bonuses for traders and bankers are a major part of their salary. The average bonus in 2010 was $128,530, Aaron Smith, “The 2010 Wall Street Bonus,” CNN Money , February 24, 2011, accessed July 23, 2011, http://money.cnn.com/2011/02/24/news/economy/wall_street_bonus/index.htm . which does not take into account specific commissions on trades, which can greatly increase total compensation. One interesting consideration is the ethical implications of certain pay structures, particularly commission and bonus plans. For example, after the US government bailed out American International Group (AIG) with $170 billion in 2009, it was reported AIG would still provide some $165 million in bonuses to the same business unit that brought the company to near collapse, because of contractual issues. Traditionally, a bonus structure is designed to reward performance, rather than be a guaranteed part of the compensation plan, as was the case with AIG. Bonus and commission plans should be utilized to drive desired behavior and act as a reward for the desired behavior, as the reinforcement theory states.

All these theories provide us information to make better decisions when developing our own pay systems. Other considerations are discussed next.

Pay Decision Considerations

Besides the motivational aspect of creating a pay structure, there are some other considerations. First, the size of the organization and the expected expansion of the organization will be a factor. For example, if you are the HR manager for a ten-person company, you likely use a going rate or management fit model. While this is appropriate for your company today, as your organization grows, it may be prudent to develop a more formal pay structure. Ascentium Corporation, based in Seattle, Washington, found this to be the case. When the company started with fewer than fifteen employees, a management fit model was used. As the company ballooned to over five hundred employees in four cities, a pay banding model had to be put into place for fairness.

If your organization also operates overseas, a consideration is how domestic workers will be paid in comparison to the global market. One strategy is to develop a centralized compensation system, which would be one pay system for all employees, regardless of where they live. The downside to this is that the cost of living may be much less in some countries, making the centralized system possibly unfair to employees who live and work in more expensive countries. Another consideration is in what currency employees will be paid. Most US companies pay even their overseas workers in dollars, and not in the local currency where the employee is working. Currency valuation fluctuations could cause challenges in this regard. Bobby Watson, “Global Pay Systems, Compensation in Support of a Multinational Strategy,” Compensation Benefits Review 37, no. 1 (2005): 33–36. We further discuss some global compensation policies in Chapter 14 "International HRM" .

How you communicate your pay system is extremely important to enhance the motivation that can be created by fair and equitable wage. In addition, where possible, asking for participation from your employees through the use of pay attitude surveys, for example, can create a transparent compensation process, resulting in higher performing employees.

Organizations should develop market pay surveys and review their wages constantly to ensure the organization is within expected ranges for the industry.

Why do you think a transparent compensation policy is so important to motivating a workforce?

Table 6.3 Types of Pay

Types of Pay

After a pay system has been developed, we can begin to look at specific methods of paying our employees. Remember that when we talk about compensation, we are referring to not only an actual paycheck but additional types of compensation, such as incentive plans that include bonuses and profit sharing. We can divide our total pay system into three categories: pay, incentives, and other types of compensation. Pay is the hourly, weekly, or monthly salary an employee earns. An incentive, often called a pay-for-performance incentive, is given for meeting certain performance standards, such as meeting sales targets. The advantage to incentive pay is that company goals can be linked directly to employee goals, resulting in higher pay for the employee and goal achievement by the organization. The following are desirable traits of incentive plans:

  • Clearly communicated
  • Attainable but challenging
  • Easily understandable
  • Tied to company goals

Table 6.3 "Types of Pay" illustrates the three types of compensation.

Most organizations use a combination of pay, incentives, and other compensation, as outlined in Table 6.3 "Types of Pay" , to develop the total compensation package.

Laws Relating to Pay

As you have already guessed from our earlier chapter discussions, people cannot be discriminated against when it comes to development of pay systems. One issue hotly debated is the issue of comparable worth. Comparable worth States that people should be given similar pay if they are performing the same type of job. states that people should be given similar pay if they are performing the same type of job. Evidence over the years shows this isn’t the case, with women earning less than men in many industries. On average, a woman earns 79 cents for every $1.00 a man earns. For women of color, the gap is wider at 69 cents for African-American women and 59 cents for Latina women. National Organization for Women, “Facts about Pay Equity,” accessed February 15, 2011, http://www.now.org/issues/economic/factsheet.html . Many publications state that women earn less than men for a few reasons:

  • Women work fewer hours because of family care and maternity leave.
  • The career path or job choice of women tends to be lower as a whole.
  • There is a bias favoring men as the “breadwinners,” and therefore they are paid more.
  • Women are valued less than men in the workplace.
  • Women don’t negotiate salaries as well as men do.

While the reasons are certainly debatable, there is evidence that young women (without children) entering the workforce actually earn more than their male counterparts, owing to higher levels of education. Conor Dougherty, “Young Women’s Pay Exceeds Male Peers,” Wall Street Journal , September 1, 2010. As you may remember from Chapter 3 "Diversity and Multiculturalism" , the EEOC covers discrimination in the workplace, including pay discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. The Equal Pay Act Passed in 1963, the act makes it illegal to pay different wages to men and women if they perform equal work in the same workplace. of 1963 makes it illegal to pay different wages to men and women if they perform equal work in the same workplace.

More recent legislation on pay includes the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, the first law signed by President Obama. This bill amends the Civil Rights Act stating that the 180-day statute of limitations for filing an equal pay lawsuit regarding pay discrimination resets with each discriminatory paycheck. The bill stemmed from a lawsuit against Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company by Lilly Ledbetter, who claimed that her nineteen-year career at the company consisted of unfair pay, compared to male workers in the organization. Her complaint was time barred by the US Supreme Court, and the new act addressed the time (180 days) constraint in which people have to file claims.

The Fair Labor Standards Act A federal law established in 1938 that sets a minimum wage for jobs and other conditions for pay. , or FLSA A federal law established in 1938 that sets a minimum wage for jobs and other conditions for pay. , was established in 1938 and set a minimum wage for jobs, overtime laws, and child labor laws. FLSA divides workers into exempt and nonexempt status, and jobs under exempt status do not fall under the FLSA guidelines. An exempt employee is usually paid a salary and includes executive, professional, outside sales, and administrative positions. A nonexempt employee is usually an hourly employee. For nonexempt employees, some states may implement a higher minimum wage than that established by the federal government. For example, in 2011, the minimum wage is $8.67 per hour in Washington State, while the federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. Obviously, as an HR manager or manager, it is your responsibility to ensure everyone is being paid the minimum wage. This law also requires overtime pay if employees work over forty hours per week. Organizations must also post the FLSA poster in a visible part of the workplace, outlining these laws.

Child labor also falls under FLSA. The goal of these laws is to protect the education of children, prohibit the employment of children in dangerous jobs, and limit the number of working hours of children during the school year and other times of the year. US Department of Labor, “Child Labor,” accessed February 15, 2011, http://www.dol.gov/whd/childlabor.htm .

According to the FLSA, tipped employees are those earning $30 or more per month in tips, such as servers in a restaurant. Employers whose employees receive more than $30 in tips may consider tips as part of wages, but they also must pay $2.12 an hour in direct wages. They must also be able to show that the employee receives at least the applicable minimum wage. If the tips and direct wage do not meet the minimum wage, the employer must pay the difference.

Also relating to pay is the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) FUTA provides for payments of unemployment compensation to workers who have lost their jobs. . FUTA provides for payments of unemployment compensation to workers who have lost their jobs. Most employers pay a federal and a state unemployment tax, and portions of these funds go toward unemployment benefits should the worker lose his or her job. The Federal Employees Compensation Act (FECA) Provides federal employees injured in the performance of their jobs compensation benefits, such as disability. provides federal employees injured in the performance of their jobs compensation benefits, such as disability. Please note that this is elective for private companies but required of federal agencies.

Negotiating Salary

This video provides tips on negotiating salary from the perspective of an employee.

  • A job evaluation system should be used to determine the relative value of one job to another. This is the first step in setting up a pay system.
  • Several types of pay systems can be implemented. A pay grade system sets up specific pay levels for particular jobs, while a going rate system looks at the pay through the industry for a certain job title. Management fit gives maximum flexibility for managers to pay what they think someone should earn.
  • HR managers can also develop pay systems based on skills and competency and utilize broadbanding, which is similar to pay grades. Another option might include variable pay.
  • There are several motivational theories in regard to pay. First, the equity theory says that people will evaluate their own satisfaction with their compensation by comparing it to others’ compensation. The expectancy theory says people will put in only as much work as they expect to receive in rewards. Finally, the reinforcement theory says if high performance is followed by a reward, high performance is likely to happen in the future.
  • Other pay considerations include the size of the organization, whether the company is global, and the level of communication and employee involvement in compensation. HR managers should always be aware of what others are paying in the industry by performing market surveys.
  • There are several laws pertaining to pay. Of course, the EEOC ensures that pay is fair for all and does not discriminate. FLSA sets a minimum wage and establishes standards for child labor. FUTA requires employers to pay unemployment taxes on employees. FECA ensures that federal employees receive certain benefits.
  • Name and describe three considerations in developing a pay system. Which do you think is best?
  • Which pay theory do you think is the most important when developing your pay system? Why?
  • Visit http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/wages/minimumwage.htm (please note that sometimes web address change so you may need to search for the information), which publishes minimum wage data for the United States. View the map and compare your state with the federal minimum wage. Is it higher or lower? Which two states have the highest minimum wage? The lowest?

6.4 Other Types of Compensation

  • Explain the various types of benefits that can be offered to employees.

As you already know, there is more to a compensation package than just pay. There are many other aspects to the creation of a good compensation package, including not only pay but incentive pay and other types of compensation. First, we will discuss benefits that are mandated by the federal government, and then we will discuss types of voluntary benefits, including both incentive pay and other types of compensation.

Mandated: Social Security and Medicare

The Social Security Act of 1935 requires employers to withdraw funds from workers’ paychecks to pay for retirement benefits. This is called a payroll tax. Please note that all organizations are legally compelled to offer this benefit. After several revisions, we now call this OASDHI A federally mandated retirement program that stands for Old Age, Survivors, Disability, and Health Insurance Program and includes Social Security and Medicare. or the Old Age, Survivors, Disability, and Health Insurance Program. To be insured, employees must work forty quarters, with a minimum of $1,000 earned per quarter. Once this money is put aside, anyone born after 1960 will receive benefits at 67. The OASDHI tax in 2011 is 4.2 percent on earnings for employees, up to $106,800 and 6.2 percent for the employer up to the same limits. This covers both retirement income as well as medical benefits, called Medicare, once the employee reaches retirement age.

Mandated: Unemployment Insurance and Workers’ Compensation

Unemployment insurance is required under the Social Security Act of 1935 and is also called the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA). This program’s goals include providing some lost income for employees during involuntary unemployment, helping workers find a new job, incentivizing employers to continue employment, and developing worker skills if they are laid off. The majority of this plan is funded by employers’ payroll taxes, which account for .8 percent per employee. The rate is actually 6.2 percent of compensation, but employers are allowed a tax credit for these payments, which results in the net .8 percent. With this benefit, employees receive unemployment benefits and/or job training when they are laid off or let go from a current job. However, employees would be ineligible to receive these benefits if they quit their job, as it must be involuntary. Just like Social Security, this payroll tax on employers is required.

Some employers also offer workers’ compensation benefits. If an employee is hurt on the job, he or she would receive certain benefits, such as a percentage of pay. Jobs are classified into risk levels, and obviously the higher the risk level, the higher the cost of insurance. This is not a federally mandated program, but for some occupations in some states, it may be a requirement.

Mandated: COBRA

While the government does not require companies to provide health-care and medical benefits to employees, the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) A law enacted in 1985 that requires companies to allow employees to extend their group health-care coverage for up to thirty-six months. requires companies to allow employees to extend their group coverage for up to thirty-six months. The restrictions for this plan include the requirement of a qualifying event that would mean a loss of benefits, such as termination or reduction in hours. For example, if an employee works forty hours a week with medical insurance, but the schedule is reduced to twenty hours, no longer qualifying him or her for benefits, COBRA would be an option.

Voluntary: Incentive Pay Systems

As we discussed earlier, there are several types of incentive pay systems that can be tied directly to business objectives and the employees’ ability to help the company meet those objectives. They include commissions, bonuses, profit sharing, stock options, team pay, and merit pay.

Commissions are usually calculated on the basis of a percentage and earned based on the achievement of specific targets that have been agreed upon by the employee and employer. For example, many salespeople receive commissions from each item sold. Many commission incentive plans require employees to meet a minimum level of sales, who then are paid a comission on each sale beyond the minimum. A straight commission plan An incentive plan in which the employee receives no base pay and the entire pay is based on meeting sales goals. is one in which the employee receives no base pay and entire pay is based on meeting sales goals. Many plans, however, include a base pay The minimum pay an employee receives. and commission for each sale. Base pay is the guaranteed salary the employee earns.

Several types of bonuses can be given to employees as incentive pay. Meeting certain company goals or successfully completing a project or other objectives can be tied to a bonus, which is a one-time payment to an employee. A spot bonus is an unplanned bonus given to an employee for meeting a certain objective. These types of bonuses do not always have to be money; they can be other forms such as a gift certificate or trip. Fifty-eight percent of WorldatWork members WorldatWork, “Spot Bonus Survey,” July 2000, accessed July 23, 2011, http://www.worldatwork.org/waw/research/html/spotbonus-home.html. said that they provide spot bonuses to employees for special recognition above and beyond work performance.

Some organizations choose to reward employees financially when the organization as a whole performs well, through the use of profit sharing as an incentive. For example, if an organization has a profit-sharing program of 2 percent for employees, the employees would earn 2 percent of the overall profit of the company. As you have guessed, this can be an excellent incentive for employees to both work as a team and also monitor their own personal performance so as not to let down the team. For example, in 2011, US automaker General Motors gave one of its highest profit-sharing payouts ever. Forty-five thousand employees received $189 million in a profit-sharing bonus, which equaled about $4,200 per person. Nick Bunkley, “GM Workers to Get $189 Million in Profit Sharing,” New York Times , February 14, 2011, accessed February 21, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/15/business/15auto.html?_r=2&ref=business . While profit sharing can be a great incentive, it can also be a large expense that should be carefully considered.

Employee ownership of the organization is similar to profit sharing but with a few key differences. In this type of plan, employees are granted stock options A type of incentive that allows the employees to buy stock at a fixed price. , which allow the employees to buy stock at a fixed price. Then if the stock goes up in value, the employee earns the difference between what he or she paid and the value of the stock. With this type of incentive, employees are encouraged to act in the best interest of the organization. Some plans, called employee stock ownership plans A type of incentive that gives employees stock (ownership) in the organization. , are different from stock options, in that in these plans the employee is given stock as reward for performance.

In a smaller organization, team pay or group incentives can be popular. In this type of plan, if the group meets a specified goal, such as the increase of sales by 10 percent, the entire group receives a reward, which can consist of additional pay or bonus. Please note that this is different from individualized bonuses, discussed earlier, since the incentive is a reward for the group as opposed for the individual.

Merit pay is a pay program that links pay to how well the employee performs within the job, and it is normally tied to performance appraisals. Performance appraisals are discussed further in Chapter 10 "Managing Employee Performance" . Merit base is normally an annual pay increase tied to performance. The problem with merit pay is that it may only be received once per year, limiting incentive flexibility. To make merit pay work, performance guidelines should be predetermined. Some organizations offer cost of living annual increases (COLAs), A pay increase not tied to merit but given to employees as an annual inflationary increase. which is not tied to merit but is given to employees as an annual inflationary increase.

Fortune 500 Focus

While the cost of health insurance premiums may be going up for most Americans, these premiums do not hit the individual employee’s pocketbook at Microsoft. Microsoft, based in Redmond, Washington, finds itself once again on the Fortune 500 Best Companies to Work For list in several areas, including paying for 100 percent of employees’ health-care premiums. “100 Best Companies to Work For,” Fortune , accessed July 21, 2011, http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/bestcompanies/2010/snapshots/51.html . In addition to cutting this cost for employees, Microsoft also offers domestic partner benefits, one of the first Fortune 500 companies to do so. In 2005, Microsoft also began to offer partial coverage for transgender surgery to its existing health-care coverage, which earned Microsoft the highest attainable score by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Equality Index. Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Employees at Microsoft (GLEAM), Microsoft website, accessed July 21, 2011, http://www.microsoft.com/about/diversity/en/us/programs/ergen/gleam.aspx . Microsoft also promotes fitness and wellness as part of its health-care plan, providing an on-site fitness center and subsidized gym memberships.

Voluntary: Medical Insurance

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 62 percent of companies in 2010 offered health-care benefits to employees. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Employee Benefits Survey,” 2010, accessed July 23, 2011, http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ebs/benefits/2010/ownership/private/table01a.htm. The yearly cost for employee medical insurance averages $9,552, according to the 2009 Towers Perrin survey. Towers Watson, “2009 Health Care Cost Survey Reveals High-Performing Companies Gain Health Dividend,” With such a significant cost to companies, it is up to HR managers to contain these costs, while not negatively affecting employee motivation. Medical insurance usually includes hospital expenses, surgical expenses, and routine health-care visits. Most insurance plans also allow for wellness visits and other alternative care (e.g., massage and acupuncture) within the plans. Many employers also offer vision and dental care benefits as part of their benefits packages. Disability insurance is also provided by some employers as well. We will discuss each of these in detail next.

One important law to keep in mind regarding medical insurance is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996. It provides federal protections for personal health information held by covered entities, such as employers. In other words, employers cannot divulge or share health care information they may have on an employee.

compensation and benefits case study with solution

As you can see from MetLife’s 9th annual study in 2010, cost containment is an important aspect to health-care plans.

Source: MetLife, “9th Annual Study of Employee Benefits Trends,” 2010, http://www.metlife.com/assets/institutional/services/insights-and-tools/ebts/Employee-Benefits-Trends-Study.pdf (accessed July 23, 2011).

As the HR professional, it will likely be your responsibility to choose the health-care plan that best meets the needs of your employees. Some options include the following:

  • Fee-for-service plans. In this type of plan, people pay for medical expenses out of pocket, and then are reimbursed for the benefit level. For example, if your insurance plan covers doctor visits, you could see any doctor, pay the bill, and then submit payment to your insurer for reimbursement. Most companies will have a base plan, which covers more serious issues requiring hospitalization, while the major medical part of the plan would cover routine services, such as doctor’s visits. As you can imagine, the disadvantage of this type of plan can be twofold: first, the initial expense for the employee, and second, the time it may take to receive reimbursement for employees. Remember that medical insurance can help retain and motivate employees and help you recruit new employees, so consideration of the disadvantages is important.
  • Health maintenance organizations (HMOs). The HMO will likely have greater coverage than the fee-for-service plan, but it limits the ability of employees to see the doctors they choose. There may be a limited number of physicians and specialists for the employee to see, and going outside the plan and seeing another doctor may result in an out-of-pocket expense for the employee. Most HMOs cover a wide range of medical issues and will usually require a copayment by the employee. Some may have minimum deductibles they must meet before the HMO will cover in full. For example, if you are part of an HMO with a deductible of $500 and copayments of $25, you would need to see the doctor for a value of $500 (paid out of pocket) before you can begin to just make the $25 copayment for visits. Some HMOs will not allow members to see a specialist, such as a dermatologist, without prior approval from the primary care physician.
  • Preferred provider organization (PPO). This type of medical plan is similar to HMOs but allows employees to see a physician outside the network. They will likely still have to pay a deductible as mentioned above, but PPOs do allow employees more freedom to see specialists, such as dermatologists.

Figure 6.7 Considerations When Choosing Medical Insurance

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When choosing the best type of plan for your organization, the following aspects should be considered:

  • The cost of the plan
  • The type of coverage
  • The quality of the care
  • Administration of the plan

First, the cost is usually a major consideration for the HR professional. Developing a budget for health-care costs, initiating bids from possible providers, and then negotiating those bids is a key factor in controlling this cost for employers.

Second, asking for employees’ opinions about the type of coverage they would prefer is a way to ensure your plan meets the needs of your employees. Next, consider the quality of care your employees will receive and, finally, how simple will the plan be for your HR department to administer. For example, many HMO plans offer fully automated and online services for employees, making them easy to administer.

Disability insurance A type of insurance that provides income to individuals (usually a portion of their salary) should they be injured or need long-term or short-term care resulting from an illness. provides income to individuals (usually a portion of their salary) should they be injured or need long-term care resulting from an illness. Short-term disability insurance (STD) provides benefits to someone if they are unable to work for six months or less, while long-term disability insurance (LTD) covers the employee for a longer period of time. Normally, disability insurance provides income to the employee that is 60–80 percent of their normal salary.

compensation and benefits case study with solution

One of the biggest challenges in health-care benefits planning is to manage the growing cost of health insurance premiums for employees while still managing cost containment for the organization.

Source: Economic Policy Institute, “The State of Working America: Health Premiums,” http://stateofworkingamerica.org/charts/growth-rate-of-premiums-earnings-and-inflation/ (accessed July 23, 2011).

Voluntary: 401(k) Plans

As the scenery of the workforce has changed, benefits have changed, too. One such recent change is the movement of employee pension plans to 401(k) plans. While some organizations still offer pension plans, such plans are far more rare. A pension plan is a set dollar amount an employee will receive when they retire from their organization. This type of plan was popular when most people worked their entire life at the same company. However, many pension plans have gone bankrupt, and the United States has an agency to protect people from losing pension benefits. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) A US government agency created by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) to protect pension benefits in private sector pension plans. was created by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) to protect pension benefits in private sector pension plans. If a pension plan ends or isn’t able to pay all benefits, PBGC’s insurance program pays the benefit that should have been provided. Financing for this plan comes from insurance premiums paid by the companies whose plans PBGC protects.

As more mobility in the workplace has occurred, most organizations no longer offer pension plans, but instead, they offer 401(k) plans. While a pension plan can motivate employee loyalty, 401(k) plans are far more popular. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, employer-provided retirement plans, such as 401(k) plans, were available to 74 percent of all full-time workers in the United States, US Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Employee Benefits in the United States: March 2010,” news release, July 27, 2010, accessed September 12, 2011, http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ebs/sp/ebnr0016.txt . while 39 percent of part-time workers had access to retirement benefits.

A 401(k) plan is a plan set up by the organization in which employees directly deposit money from their paycheck. The funds are tax deferred for the employee until retirement. If an employee leaves the job, their 401(k) plan goes with them. As an extra incentive, many organizations offer to match what the employee puts into the plan, usually based on a percentage. For example, an employee can sign up to contribute 5 percent of salary into a 401(k) plan, and the company will contribute the same amount. Most companies require a vesting period For 401(k) plans, a certain time period before the employer will match the employee funds contributed. —that is, a certain time period, such as a year, before the employer will match the funds contributed.

Usually, 401(k) plans are easy to administer, after the initial setup has occurred. If the employer is matching employee contributions, the expense of such a plan can be great, but it also increases employee retention. Some considerations when choosing a 401(k) plan are as follows:

  • Is the vendor trustworthy?
  • Does the vendor allow employees to change their investments and account information online?
  • How much are the management fees?

It is first important to make sure the vendor you are considering for administration of your 401(k) plan has a positive reputation and also provides ease of access for your employees. For example, most 401(k) plans allow employees to change their address online and move investments from a stock to a bond. Twenty-four-hour access has become the expectation of most employees, and as a result, this is a major consideration before choosing a plan. Most 401(k) plans charge a fee to manage the investments of your employees. The management fees can vary greatly, so receiving a number of bids and comparing these fees is important to ensure your employees are getting the best deal.

It is important to mention the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) here, as this relates directly to administration of your 401(k) plan. First, ERISA does not require employers to offer a pension or 401(k) plan, but for those who do, it requires them to meet certain standards when administering this type of plan. Some of these standards include the following:

  • Requires participants receive specific information about the plan, such as plan features and funding
  • Sets minimum standards for participation and vesting
  • Requires accountability of plan’s fiduciary responsibilities
  • Requires payment of certain benefits, should the plan be terminated

Voluntary: Paid Time Off

Time off is a benefit we should address, since this type of benefit varies greatly, especially in other parts of the world. French companies, for example, are mandated by law to provide five weeks of paid vacation time to employees. Rebecca Leung, “France: Less Work, More Time Off,” CBS News , February 11, 2009, accessed July 23, 2011, http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/06/27/60II/main704571.shtml . In the United States, the number of days off provided is a major budget item worth considering. Here are the general types of time off:

Paid Holidays

Many companies offer a set number of paid holidays, such as New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Christmas, Independence Day, and Thanksgiving.

The number of sick leave days can vary greatly among employers. The average in the United States is 8.4 paid sick days offered to employees per year. HRM Guide, “Sick Day Entitlement Survey,” accessed February 21, 2011, http://www.hrmguide.com/health/sick-entitlement.htm .

Paid Vacation

With full-time employment, many organizations also offer paid vacation to employees, and it is generally expected as part of the compensation package. According to a survey performed by Salary.com, the average number of paid vacation days in the United States is nine days for one year of service, fourteen days for five years of service, and seventeen days for ten years of service to the organization. Jessica Yang, “Paid Time Off from Work Survey,” Salary.com, accessed September 15, 2011, http://www.salary.com/Articles/ArticleDetail.asp?part=par088 .

Organizations vary greatly in how vacation time is accrued. Some organizations give one hour for a certain number of days worked, while others require a waiting period before earning any paid time off (PTO). In addition, some organizations allow their employees to carry over unused vacation time from one year to the next, while other employees must use their vacation every year or risk losing it.

Paid Time Off (PTO)

One option is to provide a set number of days off, which can be used for vacation time, holidays, and/or sick leave.

To promote longevity, some organizations offer paid (or for example, 60 percent of salary paid) sabbaticals. For example, after five years of employment, the employee may take a paid sabbatical for one month.

A Final Note on Compensation and Benefits Strategy

When creating your compensation plan, of course the ability to recruit and retain should be an important factor. But also, consideration of your workforce needs is crucial to any successful compensation plan. The first step in development of a plan is to ask the employees what they care about. Some employees would rather receive more pay with fewer benefits or better benefits with fewer days off. Surveying the employees allows you, as the HR professional, to better understand the needs of your specific workforce. Once you have developed your plan, understand that it may change to best meet the needs of your business as it changes over time.

Once the plan is developed, communicating the plan with your employees is also essential. Inform your employees via an HR blog, e-mails, and traditional methods such as face to face. Your employees might not always be aware of the benefits cost to the company, so making sure they know is your responsibility. For example, if you pay for 80 percent of the medical insurance premiums, let your employees know. This type of communication can go a long way to allowing the employees to see their value to you within the organization.

Lynn Cameron, managing partner of TechEdge, discusses compensation strategies.

  • Before beginning work on a pay system, some general questions need to be answered. Questions such as what is a fair wage from the employee’s perspective and how much can be paid but still retain financial health are important starting points.
  • After some pay questions are answered, development of a pay philosophy must be developed. For example, an organization may decide to pay lower salaries but offer more benefits.
  • Besides salary, one of the biggest expenses for compensation is medical benefits. These can include health benefits, vision, dental, and disability benefits.
  • Social Security and unemployment insurance are both required by federal law. Both are paid as a percentage of income by the employee and employer.
  • Depending on the state, workers’ compensation might be a requirement. A percentage is paid on behalf of the employee in case he or she is hurt on the job.
  • A mandatory benefit, COBRA was enacted to allow employees to continue their health insurance coverage, even if they leave their job.
  • There are three main types of health-care plans. A fee-based plan allows the insured to see any doctor and submit reimbursement after a visit. An HMO plan restricts employees to certain doctors and facilities and may require a copayment and/or deductibles. A PPO plan is similar to the HMO but allows for more flexibility in which providers the employee can see.
  • Pension funds were once popular, but as people tend to change jobs more, 401(k) plans are becoming more popular, since they can move with the employee.
  • Profit sharing is a benefit in which employees receive a percentage of profit the organization earns. Stock ownership plans are plans in which employees can purchase stock or are granted stock and become an owner in the organization.
  • Team rewards are also a popular way to motivate employees. These can be in the form of compensation if a group or the company meets certain target goals.
  • Paid time off, or PTO, can come in the form of holidays, vacation time, and sick leave. Usually, employees earn more days as they stay with the company.
  • Communication with employees is key to a successful benefits strategy.
  • Of the benefits we discussed, which ones are required by law? Which are not?
  • Research current Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) tax rates and Social Security limits, as these change frequently. Write down each of these rates and be prepared to share in class.
  • Describe the considerations when developing medical benefits. Which do you think would be the most important to you as the HR manager?
  • Visit websites of three companies you might be interested in working for. Review the incentives they offer and be prepared to discuss your findings in class.

6.5 Cases and Problems

Chapter summary.

  • The goals of compensation are first to attract people to work for your organization. Second, they can be used to retain people who are already working in the organization.
  • Compensation is also used to motivate employees to work at their peak performance and improve morale of the organization.
  • Several types of pay systems can be implemented. A pay grade system sets up specific pay levels for particular jobs, while a going rate system looks at the pay throughout the industry for a certain job title. Management fit gives maximum flexibility for managers to pay what they think someone should earn.
  • HR managers can also develop pay systems based on skills and competency and utilize a broadbanding approach, which is similar to pay grades. Another option might include variable pay.
  • There are several motivational theories in regard to pay. First, the equity theory says that people will evaluate their own satisfaction with their compensation by comparing it to others’ compensation. The expectancy theory says people will put in only as much work as they expect to receive in rewards. Finally, the reinforcement theory says that if high performance is followed by a reward, high performance is likely to happen in the future.
  • There are several laws pertaining to pay. Of course, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ensures that pay is fair for all and does not discriminate. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) sets a minimum wage and establishes standards for child labor. The Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) requires employers to pay unemployment taxes on employees. The Federal Employees Compensation Act ( FECA) ensures that federal employees receive certain benefits.
  • The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act ( COBRA ) was enacted to allow employees to continue their health insurance coverage, even if they leave their job.
  • Communication with employees is key to a successful benefits strategy. This includes communication before implementing the plan as well as communication about the plan.

The author provides a video summary of the chapter.

Chapter Case

PTO: Too Little or Too Much?

You just finished analyzing information for the current compensation and benefits program. You find that some changes should be made, as the majority of employees (you have 120 employees) are not happy with what is being offered. In fact, the plan had not been revised in over fifteen years, making it dated and definitely ready for some changes.

One of the major points of contention is the PTO the organization offers. Employees feel the current system of sick time and vacation time offers too few options. For example, one employee says, “I often come to work sick, so I can still have my vacation time for my vacation.” Another employee says, “I have given nine years to this organization, but I receive only three days more than someone who has just started.” Here is the current PTO offering:

  • What cost considerations would you take into account when revising this part of your compensation plan?
  • What other considerations would you take into account when developing a new PTO plan?
  • Propose a new plan and estimate the cost of your plan on an Excel spreadsheet. Be prepared to present to the board of directors.

Team Activity

  • Work in teams of four or five. Assume your organization is expanding and wants to open a sales office overseas. What compensation factors would be a concern? Brainstorm a list and be prepared to present to the rest of the class.
  • Go to http://www.bls.gov/oco/ and review the information on the Occupational Outlook Handbook in teams of three. Pick three different jobs under the management category and record their average salary. Discuss reasons for the pay difference between the jobs you choose.

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  • Case Study: How a compensation model ensured zero attrition in this company

The Elgi Blue-Collar Compensation Model is a framework to calculate wages scientifically by taking into account workers’ needs and aspirations. Elgi’s HR team partners with the factory worker representatives to decide on a ‘cost of living basket’ of goods.

compensation and benefits case study with solution

  • Hemanshi Tewari ,
  • Updated On Jul 26, 2022 at 08:47 AM IST
  • The entire compensation system for blue-collar employees is driven by co-created baskets that reflect the standards of living.
  • The cost of the basket is then reviewed against an ‘affordability value’, which is a pre-defined share of the company’s revenue.
  • Elgi has almost zero attrition among its blue-collar employees.
  • While unions have become a vogue, especially in manufacturing firms, Elgi Equipments has zero unions.
  • Since the launch of the compensation plan, not a single work hour was lost due to unrest.

<p>Jairam Varadaraj, Managing Director, Elgi Equipments</p>

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Compensation And Benefit Plan

  • Harvard Case Studies

Harvard Business Case Studies Solutions – Assignment Help

In most courses studied at Harvard Business schools, students are provided with a case study. Major HBR cases concerns on a whole industry, a whole organization or some part of organization; profitable or non-profitable organizations. Student’s role is to analyze the case and diagnose the situation, identify the problem and then give appropriate recommendations and steps to be taken.

To make a detailed case analysis, student should follow these steps:

STEP 1: Reading Up Harvard Case Study Method Guide:

Case study method guide is provided to students which determine the aspects of problem needed to be considered while analyzing a case study. It is very important to have a thorough reading and understanding of guidelines provided. However, poor guide reading will lead to misunderstanding of case and failure of analyses. It is recommended to read guidelines before and after reading the case to understand what is asked and how the questions are to be answered. Therefore, in-depth understanding f case guidelines is very important.

Harvard Case Study Solutions

porter's five forces model

porter’s five forces model

STEP 2: Reading The Compensation And Benefit Plan Harvard Case Study:

To have a complete understanding of the case, one should focus on case reading. It is said that case should be read two times. Initially, fast reading without taking notes and underlines should be done. Initial reading is to get a rough idea of what information is provided for the analyses. Then, a very careful reading should be done at second time reading of the case. This time, highlighting the important point and mark the necessary information provided in the case. In addition, the quantitative data in case, and its relations with other quantitative or qualitative variables should be given more importance. Also, manipulating different data and combining with other information available will give a new insight. However, all of the information provided is not reliable and relevant.

When having a fast reading, following points should be noted:

  • Nature of organization
  • Nature if industry in which organization operates.
  • External environment that is effecting organization
  • Problems being faced by management
  • Identification of communication strategies.
  • Any relevant strategy that can be added.
  • Control and out-of-control situations.

When reading the case for second time, following points should be considered:

  • Decisions needed to be made and the responsible Person to make decision.
  • Objectives of the organization and key players in this case.
  • The compatibility of objectives. if not, their reconciliations and necessary redefinition.
  • Sources and constraints of organization from meeting its objectives.

After reading the case and guidelines thoroughly, reader should go forward and start the analyses of the case.

STEP 3: Doing The Case Analysis Of Compensation And Benefit Plan:

To make an appropriate case analyses, firstly, reader should mark the important problems that are happening in the organization. There may be multiple problems that can be faced by any organization. Secondly, after identifying problems in the company, identify the most concerned and important problem that needed to be focused.

Firstly, the introduction is written. After having a clear idea of what is defined in the case, we deliver it to the reader. It is better to start the introduction from any historical or social context. The challenging diagnosis for Compensation And Benefit Plan and the management of information is needed to be provided. However, introduction should not be longer than 6-7 lines in a paragraph. As the most important objective is to convey the most important message for to the reader.

After introduction, problem statement is defined. In the problem statement, the company’s most important problem and constraints to solve these problems should be define clearly. However, the problem should be concisely define in no more than a paragraph. After defining the problems and constraints, analysis of the case study is begin.

STEP 4: SWOT Analysis of the Compensation And Benefit Plan HBR Case Solution:

Pest analysis

  • Pest analysis

SWOT analysis helps the business to identify its strengths and weaknesses, as well as understanding of opportunity that can be availed and the threat that the company is facing. SWOT for Compensation And Benefit Plan is a powerful tool of analysis as it provide a thought to uncover and exploit the opportunities that can be used to increase and enhance company’s operations. In addition, it also identifies the weaknesses of the organization that will help to be eliminated and manage the threats that would catch the attention of the management.

This strategy helps the company to make any strategy that would differentiate the company from competitors, so that the organization can compete successfully in the industry. The strengths and weaknesses are obtained from internal organization. Whereas, the opportunities and threats are generally related from external environment of organization. Moreover, it is also called Internal-External Analysis.

In the strengths, management should identify the following points exists in the organization:

  • Advantages of the organization
  • Activities of the company better than competitors.
  • Unique resources and low cost resources company have.
  • Activities and resources market sees as the company’s strength.
  • Unique selling proposition of the company.

WEAKNESSES:

  • Improvement that could be done.
  • Activities that can be avoided for Compensation And Benefit Plan.
  • Activities that can be determined as your weakness in the market.
  • Factors that can reduce the sales.
  • Competitor’s activities that can be seen as your weakness.

OPPORTUNITIES:

  • Good opportunities that can be spotted.
  • Interesting trends of industry.
  • Change in technology and market strategies
  • Government policy changes that is related to the company’s field
  • Changes in social patterns and lifestyles.
  • Local events.

Following points can be identified as a threat to company:

  • Company’s facing obstacles.
  • Activities of competitors.
  • Product and services quality standards
  • Threat from changing technologies
  • Financial/cash flow problems
  • Weakness that threaten the business.

Following points should be considered when applying SWOT to the analysis:

  • Precise and verifiable phrases should be sued.
  • Prioritize the points under each head, so that management can identify which step has to be taken first.
  • Apply the analyses at proposed level. Clear yourself first that on what basis you have to apply SWOT matrix.
  • Make sure that points identified should carry itself with strategy formulation process.
  • Use particular terms (like USP, Core Competencies Analyses etc.) to get a comprehensive picture of analyses.

STEP 5: PESTEL/ PEST Analysis of Compensation And Benefit Plan Case Solution:

rp_hbr-case-study-solutions-analyses-300x232.png

Pest analyses is a widely used tool to analyze the Political, Economic, Socio-cultural, Technological, Environmental and legal situations which can provide great and new opportunities to the company as well as these factors can also threat the company, to be dangerous in future.

Pest analysis is very important and informative.  It is used for the purpose of identifying business opportunities and advance threat warning. Moreover, it also helps to the extent to which change is useful for the company and also guide the direction for the change. In addition, it also helps to avoid activities and actions that will be harmful for the company in future, including projects and strategies.

To analyze the business objective and its opportunities and threats, following steps should be followed:

  • Brainstorm and assumption the changes that should be made to organization. Answer the necessary questions that are related to specific needs of organization
  • Analyze the opportunities that would be happen due to the change.
  • Analyze the threats and issues that would be caused due to change.
  • Perform cost benefit analyses and take the appropriate action.

PEST FACTORS:

  • Next political elections and changes that will happen in the country due to these elections
  • Strong and powerful political person, his point of view on business policies and their effect on the organization.
  • Strength of property rights and law rules. And its ratio with corruption and organized crimes. Changes in these situation and its effects.
  • Change in Legislation and taxation effects on the company
  • Trend of regulations and deregulations. Effects of change in business regulations
  • Timescale of legislative change.
  • Other political factors likely to change for Compensation And Benefit Plan.

ECONOMICAL:

  • Position and current economy trend i.e. growing, stagnant or declining.
  • Exchange rates fluctuations and its relation with company.
  • Change in Level of customer’s disposable income and its effect.
  • Fluctuation in unemployment rate and its effect on hiring of skilled employees
  • Access to credit and loans. And its effects on company
  • Effect of globalization on economic environment
  • Considerations on other economic factors

SOCIO-CULTURAL:

  • Change in population growth rate and age factors, and its impacts on organization.
  • Effect on organization due to Change in attitudes and generational shifts.
  • Standards of health, education and social mobility levels. Its changes and effects on company.
  • Employment patterns, job market trend and attitude towards work according to different age groups.

case study solutions

  • Social attitudes and social trends, change in socio culture an dits effects.
  • Religious believers and life styles and its effects on organization
  • Other socio culture factors and its impacts.

TECHNOLOGICAL:

  • Any new technology that company is using
  • Any new technology in market that could affect the work, organization or industry
  • Access of competitors to the new technologies and its impact on their product development/better services.
  • Research areas of government and education institutes in which the company can make any efforts
  • Changes in infra-structure and its effects on work flow
  • Existing technology that can facilitate the company
  • Other technological factors and their impacts on company and industry

These headings and analyses would help the company to consider these factors and make a “big picture” of company’s characteristics. This will help the manager to take the decision and drawing conclusion about the forces that would create a big impact on company and its resources.

STEP 6: Porter’s Five Forces/ Strategic Analysis Of The Compensation And Benefit Plan Case Study:

To analyze the structure of a company and its corporate strategy, Porter’s five forces model is used. In this model, five forces have been identified which play an important part in shaping the market and industry. These forces are used to measure competition intensity and profitability of an industry and market.

porter’s five forces model

These forces refers to micro environment and the company ability to serve its customers and make a profit. These five forces includes three forces from horizontal competition and two forces from vertical competition. The five forces are discussed below:

  • THREAT OF NEW ENTRANTS:
  • as the industry have high profits, many new entrants will try to enter into the market. However, the new entrants will eventually cause decrease in overall industry profits. Therefore, it is necessary to block the new entrants in the industry. following factors is describing the level of threat to new entrants:
  • Barriers to entry that includes copy rights and patents.
  • High capital requirement
  • Government restricted policies
  • Switching cost
  • Access to suppliers and distributions
  • Customer loyalty to established brands.
  • THREAT OF SUBSTITUTES:
  • this describes the threat to company. If the goods and services are not up to the standard, consumers can use substitutes and alternatives that do not need any extra effort and do not make a major difference. For example, using Aquafina in substitution of tap water, Pepsi in alternative of Coca Cola. The potential factors that made customer shift to substitutes are as follows:
  • Price performance of substitute
  • Switching costs of buyer
  • Products substitute available in the market
  • Reduction of quality
  • Close substitution are available
  • DEGREE OF INDUSTRY RIVALRY:
  • the lesser money and resources are required to enter into any industry, the higher there will be new competitors and be an effective competitor. It will also weaken the company’s position. Following are the potential factors that will influence the company’s competition:
  • Competitive advantage
  • Continuous innovation
  • Sustainable position in competitive advantage
  • Level of advertising
  • Competitive strategy
  • BARGAINING POWER OF BUYERS:
  • it deals with the ability of customers to take down the prices. It mainly consists the importance of a customer and the level of cost if a customer will switch from one product to another. The buyer power is high if there are too many alternatives available. And the buyer power is low if there are lesser options of alternatives and switching. Following factors will influence the buying power of customers:
  • Bargaining leverage
  • Switching cost of a buyer
  • Buyer price sensitivity
  • Competitive advantage of company’s product
  • BARGAINING POWER OF SUPPLIERS:
  • this refers to the supplier’s ability of increasing and decreasing prices. If there are few alternatives o supplier available, this will threat the company and it would have to purchase its raw material in supplier’s terms. However, if there are many suppliers alternative, suppliers have low bargaining power and company do not have to face high switching cost. The potential factors that effects bargaining power of suppliers are the following:
  • Input differentiation
  • Impact of cost on differentiation
  • Strength of distribution centers
  • Input substitute’s availability.

STEP 7: VRIO Analysis of Compensation And Benefit Plan:

case study solutions

Vrio analysis for Compensation And Benefit Plan case study identified the four main attributes which helps the organization to gain a competitive advantages. The author of this theory suggests that firm must be valuable, rare, imperfectly imitable and perfectly non sustainable. Therefore there must be some resources and capabilities in an organization that can facilitate the competitive advantage to company. The four components of VRIO analysis are described below: VALUABLE: the company must have some resources or strategies that can exploit opportunities and defend the company from major threats. If the company holds some value then answer is yes. Resources are also valuable if they provide customer satisfaction and increase customer value. This value may create by increasing differentiation in existing product or decrease its price. Is these conditions are not met, company may lead to competitive disadvantage. Therefore, it is necessary to continually review the Compensation And Benefit Plan company’s activities and resources values. RARE: the resources of the Compensation And Benefit Plan company that are not used by any other company are known as rare. Rare and valuable resources grant much competitive advantages to the firm. However, when more than one few companies uses the same resources and provide competitive parity are also known as rare resources. Even, the competitive parity is not desired position, but the company should not lose its valuable resources, even they are common. COSTLY TO IMITATE: the resources are costly to imitate, if other organizations cannot imitate it. However, imitation is done in two ways. One is duplicating that is direct imitation and the other one is substituting that is indirect imitation. Any firm who has valuable and rare resources, and these resources are costly to imitate, have achieved their competitive advantage. However, resources should also be perfectly non sustainable. The reasons that resource imitation is costly are historical conditions, casual ambiguity and social complexity. ORGANIZED TO CAPTURE VALUE: resources, itself, cannot provide advantages to organization until it is organized and exploit to do so. A firm (like Compensation And Benefit Plan)  must organize its management systems, processes, policies and strategies to fully utilize the resource’s potential to be valuable, rare and costly to imitate.

STEP 8: Generating Alternatives For Compensation And Benefit Plan Case Solution:

After completing the analyses of the company, its opportunities and threats, it is important to generate a solution of the problem and the alternatives a company can apply in order to solve its problems. To generate the alternative of problem, following things must to be kept in mind:

  • Realistic solution should be identified that can be operated in the company, with all its constraints and opportunities.
  • as the problem and its solution cannot occur at the same time, it should be described as mutually exclusive
  • it is not possible for a company to not to take any action, therefore, the alternative of doing nothing is not viable.
  • Student should provide more than one decent solution. Providing two undesirable alternatives to make the other one attractive is not acceptable.

Once the alternatives have been generated, student should evaluate the options and select the appropriate and viable solution for the company.

STEP 9: Selection Of Alternatives For Compensation And Benefit Plan Case Solution:

It is very important to select the alternatives and then evaluate the best one as the company have limited choices and constraints. Therefore to select the best alternative, there are many factors that is needed to be kept in mind. The criteria’s on which business decisions are to be selected areas under:

  • Improve profitability
  • Increase sales, market shares, return on investments
  • Customer satisfaction
  • Brand image
  • Corporate mission, vision and strategy
  • Resources and capabilities

Alternatives should be measures that which alternative will perform better than other one and the valid reasons. In addition, alternatives should be related to the problem statements and issues described in the case study.

STEP 10: Evaluation Of Alternatives For Compensation And Benefit Plan Case Solution:

If the selected alternative is fulfilling the above criteria, the decision should be taken straightforwardly. Best alternative should be selected must be the best when evaluating it on the decision criteria. Another method used to evaluate the alternatives are the list of pros and cons of each alternative and one who has more pros than cons and can be workable under organizational constraints.

STEP 11: Recommendations For Compensation And Benefit Plan Case Study (Solution):

There should be only one recommendation to enhance the company’s operations and its growth or solving its problems. The decision that is being taken should be justified and viable for solving the problems.

IMAGES

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VIDEO

  1. Compensation Plan Overview and how to Make Money with it

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